Cajun Spiced Chicken with Sweet Potato Black Bean Salad, Avocado, Feta & Lime
I made this chicken dish using the leftover salsa from my Smoky Chipotle Beef Meatball recipe (see recipe from a few posts back). Its super quick to make, nutritious and very, very tasty. If you make my beef meatballs one night of the week, then you have already done a lot of the chopping for this meal, so why not work both into your weekly meal plans and ensure no leftovers go to waste? Marinading, frying, then baking the chicken breasts keeps them lovely and juicy and moist and works every time. You can add whatever veggies you like to the salad but for me, some roasted sweet potato in a few spices, roughly chopped spinach leaves and extra coriander work a treat.
(Serves 4 - £3.19 per portion)
You can use the leftover black bean salsa from my smoky beef chipotle meatballs as the base of your salad. First, marinade your chicken breasts by putting four chicken breasts in an enamel/ceramic baking dish. Add 3 tbsps olive oil, 2 tbsps cajun seasoning, the juice of two limes, 2 crushed garlic cloves and some seasoning. Mix well then leave to marinade at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Next, wash and chop three sweet potatoes into 3cm cubes and add to a parchment lined baking tray. Add 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander and 1 tsp smoked paprika and a good drizzle of olive oil. Toss together so the pieces are well coated in the spices, season, and roast at 200C fan/220C for 30-35 minutes until cooked through and slightly crispy. Set aside.
When the chicken has had 30 minutes, heat a nonstick frying pan over a high heat, shake off excess marinade from the chicken and fry for 2-3 minutes each side until it has some colour. Return the chicken to the dish you marinaded it in, cover it with foil and bake underneath the potatoes for 20 minutes until cooked through. Remove the foil for the last few minutes of cooking, basting the chicken with any juices and drizzle over 1 tbsp runny honey. Return to the oven without the foil for 5 more minutes. Leave the chicken to rest while you finish the salad.
Add the sweet potato to the leftover salsa, along with a couple of large handfuls of roughly chopped spinach. Add some more chopped coriander and lime and taste for seasoning.
Spoon the salad into large bowls, top with the sliced chicken breasts, drizzle over any resting juices, add some chopped avocado and crumble over some feta cheese. Add extra coriander and lime if you wish.